Mentally challenged teacher: Ministry acted slow
MBABANE – Despite being informed that a teacher was at times not kind to pupils, the Ministry of Education and Training seemingly acted at a snail’s pace to address the issue.
That is if reports that the ministry was made aware months ago about the issue are true, but she has been allowed to continue reporting for duty, instead of being given time away to recover.
Last week, it was reported that a teacher at the Matsapha Government Primary School allegedly verbally and physically assaulted pupils in different occasions.
As a result, the mental status of the teacher and her fitness was said to have raised questions.
Worth noting, is that the teacher is known for having caused a stir during a public event, which however, cannot be stated due to ethical reasons.
It has been uncovered that, despite the suspicions that she could be having mental challenges, the teacher has continued to show up at the school.
FACT-FINDING
This was proven during the visit by the Minister Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Bongani Nzima on Wednesday, as the teacher was spotted together with some of her colleagues.
The minister had gone on a fact-finding mission, to assess challenges faced by the school in their day-to-day activities.
The report given to the minister was that the teacher used derogatory words when addressing the pupils and that the behaviour would worsen at times.
It was also revealed during the tour that on other days the teacher would be in a great mood.
This publication is in the possession of pictures of her standing with some of the teachers next to one of the classrooms.
To ascertain further if she still reported for duty, a call was made to the school on Friday through its landline and the response received was that she was around.
The Times SUNDAY has gathered that the leadership of the school did report the issue to the Regional Education Office (REO) a few months ago.
This was also confirmed by the Manzini Regional Education Officer (REO) Sizwe Kunene.
CHALLENGES
Kunene was engaged by this publication to ascertain the actions taken, ever since it was discovered that the teacher had challenges leading to her being violent towards the pupils. Before engaging the REO, the Head teacher, Thulani Dlamini was engaged, but he flatly refused to entertain questions posed to him, as he argued that he did not have the mandate to do so.
“I do not engage with the media unless I get a directive or approval from the ministry. So I request that you call the ministry and if they allow me to talk to you, I will do that,” he said.
This reporter tried to explain that he, as the head teacher, had to give details of actions he had taken after noticing that the teacher was not kind to the pupils.
In response he said, “I request that you respect me and not ask me to say something on this matter. I understand where you are coming from but I do not entertain the media without the consent of the ministry,” he said.
CONFIRMED
When the REO was called, he confirmed that the matter was reported and that his office followed the procedure and forwarded it to the head ministry.
“The matter is now with the ministry. We reported it some time back,” he said.
Kunene mentioned that he was not able to say more on the issue as his office followed the procedure and reported to the ministry.
In particular, Kunene was asked to clarify if any recommendations were made to the ministry and he responded by saying it was not the duty of his office to tell the employer what to do with an employee.
“We do not decide who reports for duty in schools and who doesn’t. All that we do is report after receiving a report
The REO was asked to be specific and say when exactly the issue was reported to the ministry and if it
happened before the Sibaya, People's Parliament.
He stated that while he could not recall properly, it must have been a year ago and obviously way before the Sibaya, People's Parliament.
)ollowing the revelation by the REO, the Under Secretary (US) in the ministry, Naniki Mnisi was asked to shed light on the matter.
In response she said, in her view it was the Principal Secretary (PS) Bheki Gama who could be in a better position to respond.
Mnisi said this was because the PS had advised her office to not respond on the matter.
UNCOVERED
However, this publication has uncovered that the Office of the US recently attempted to take action on the issue.
The US, it has been reported, recently invited the teacher and her husband to ascertain the seriousness of her challenge and to give what is known as psycho-social support.
This was after the teacher has caused a public stir and news started doing rounds that she was actually in the teaching profession.
During an interview with the PS yesterday, he stated that personally he was not aware of the issue, as it had not been reported to him.
³But generally, we have a policy as a ministry and it states clearly that a teacher is not supposed to behave in a violent manner against pupils. :hen we receive such a concern, we then take the decision that he or she be disallowed to teach and this we
do by taking a decision to enforce an early retirement on medical grounds. Again, we first have to get the medical report,” he said.
The PS was asked again if he was not aware of the issue but he stated that he had heard about it but expected to be officially informed.
³Even though I expected that they will inform me officially, I must state that we condemn keeping an employee who is not fit,” he said.
The PS said now that he had been informed, he would check what exactly the REO recommended.
NOT EASY TO DEAL WITH
³Such issues are not easy to deal with because here we are talking about an employee. Her family is also affected. I will find out from the REO on Monday after which, I will be able to give a proper response,” the PS said.
A parent who spoke on condition of anonymity said if the ministry had obtained the proof that the teacher had challenges, the best thing to do would be to force her to retire.
³However, first they have to give her time to recover and then if health experts find that the problem is still there, there is no other option.
³Otherwise it does not help to turn her into a cleaner, because she will engage with the pupils on a daily basis. It is not safe to keep her in the school, something bad might happen either to her, a pupil or another teacher,” the parent said.
Meanwhile, Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General Lot 9ilakati said they believed that there were laid out procedures for reporting any information that touched on their members, after an investigation is conducted and a report compiled.
³On this issue you are raising, as much as we cannot say we do not follow what is reported on social media, there is nothing on our records about this issue.
³The head teacher has not informed us anything. :e will await the report that will come from the official structures and take it from there. So for now I cannot comment, especially because it is only a doctor who determines that a person is not well,” 9ilakati said.
However, he mentioned that he would touch base with the responsible branch to get more information.
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Meanwhile, the United Nations International Children¶s Emergency )und (UNICE)) emphasises that mental health is an integral component of health and well-being and influences academic, social and economic outcomes across the lifespan.
The organisation advised countries that having good mental health means being better able to interact with others, function, cope and thrive. It is a basic human right.
It highlights that mental health exists on a complex continuum, with experiences ranging from an optimal state of well-being to experiencing severe mental health conditions with related suffering and often an important impact on the capacity to carry out daily activities.